Adaptive control systems have the capability to adapt control response to changing conditions within the plant being controlled or the plant's operating environment. Adaptation to changing plant or environmental conditions provides enhanced control response for many kinds of plants, and may be required for certain types of plants that cannot be controlled with static control systems. However, conventional adaptive control systems have a tendency to adapt to plant or control system characteristics to which they should not. The control response of adaptive control systems can be greatly diminished when subjected to certain characteristic(s) of the plant or system, and can be rendered unstable in attempting to adapt to these characteristics. An example of a characteristic that could adversely affect an adaptive control system is a control or authority limit imposed on the control elements of an adaptive control system. If an operator generates a command signal that exceeds the ability of the control system or plant to respond, adaptation of the control system can render the control system unstable. It is desirable to reduce or prevent the impact of such characteristic(s) from adversely affecting the adaptive control system's performance.